A lady at church asked me this morning, if I'd be willing to give her and her young son a "thorough rundown" on firearms safety, as well as an introduction to actually shooting. The boy will meet the minimum age requirement (8 yrs), for the local range, about this time next month and mom wants him to be fully trained in firearms safety, well before he hits his teen years.

He's, of course, a little fella and I'm just curious if we'd have any luck finding "kid sized" earmuffs & shooting glasses at Big 5, Walmart and such? I've honestly never looked for safety gear, in the smaller sizes. Does anyone know of any alternative resources for such things, if we strike out at the usual places?

Oh yeah... another thing... Opinions on whether or not we should put "foamies" in his ears, in addition to the earmuffs?

I bought my 6 year old the youth size muffs. They also are sold as a package with youth safety glasses. Foamies are not necessary but doesn't hurt to try. Muffs will be good enough, especially so he can hear your instructions.

Well, I'm 6ft even (if I stand up straight) and he only comes up to my mid torso. We've tried adult sized glasses... and they're waaay too big. (But they do make him look kinda silly ). Looking like he'll be okay with regular sized muffs. So his mom can buy him whichever she can find.

The biggest issue, now... is finding an appropriate rifle to borrow. Even our 10/22 is too long in LOP for him.

Good lookin' boy! The frontrunner is currently an S&W M&P15-22. It's .22LR, but given my druthers, I druther start him on a single-shot bolt-action, like the Crickett. I just don't have one and neither do any of my shooting pals. Which is odd, since I have a plethora of them, some of which own a gun shop! One of them might be able to lend me a Savage Cub, but it might need some minor repairs, he's not sure.

Walmart has a Winchester branded safety glasses that fit smaller heads. Also the collapable ear muffs also work great with little ones and they are both pretty inexpensive. If you have a safety store near you (I use Jorgenson's Fire Extinuishers), they usually have a pretty good supply of safety glasses. I buy my son Smith and Wesson brand glasses for $5-$7 a pair, depending on who is working the counter. At that price, I also get the tinted ones that double as sun glasses. Super clear lenses and very scratch resistant. I don't mind my son losing those as much as I did when he lost his Spy sunglasses.

Just a quick note ear protection worn inside the ear should be fitted. Most schools require a physical for sports and going back to school have the Dr. write a script for them and see if your medical will pay for them that way you get them fitted and know they are keeping out the noise. Also read up on bone conduction in young people knowing that with all the proper protection they can still suffer some hearing loss through bone conduction.